One small catch? Innovation Overnight is a 20-hour long event, beginning at 3 pm on April 10 and culminating in an 11 am awards ceremony April 11. Students can leave from midnight to 7 am, but they are also welcome to stay and keep working.

During the marathon brainstorming and building session, students will work through the phases of design thinking to build a functioning prototype that solves a problem sourced from event sponsors (including Jabil Inc, Valpak and the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team).

Games like “Are You Smarter than a Freshman?” and a hula hoop competition will help keep things light during the long hours.

Similar to Startup Weekend events, Innovation Overnight aims to connect members of the community in an informal but inspirational environment. Unlike Startup Weekend events, only students are permitted to participate.

Jessica Chin, co-creator and Chief Innovation Officer for the event, says that Innovation Overnight was developed to help students focus on approaching a problem using “design thinking and a structured thought process.”

Design thinking refers to a process of problem solving through specific phases: “Explore, Ideate, Build and Test,” Alison Watkins, associate dean of the USFSP COB and event co-creator, explained in a news release. It is “particularly useful in terms of defining multifaceted problems and providing innovative, multidimensional solutions to complex business challenges.”

The 20-hour design-a-thon, which mixes play with problem-solving, will include time to pitch a prototype solution to judges, network with potential employers, and learn design thinking tactics from keynote speaker Michelle Royal. Judges will include representatives from several Innovation Overnight sponsors, USFSP, and the TBTF.

Royal, CEO of Royal Innovation Design Group, was selected as keynote speaker “based on her willingness to engage in higher education and her professional expertise,” Chin explains.

Students can sign up for Innovation Overnight as individual participants, but Chin recommends that interested students engage each other on social media before the event to create a team, or contact her to facilitate team creation.

“Innovation Overnight provides an opportunity for students to connect classroom learning to real world situations, demonstrating to the business community that there is high quality talent graduating from area colleges,” TBTF’s Pat Gehant noted in the release. “This program lifts the bar for developing tech talent in the Tampa Bay area.”

The event will be held at USFSP’s University Student Center, 6th Ave S., in Ball Room A. Student pitches, which are open to the public, begin at 9 am on Friday, April 10; an awards ceremony and reception begins at 11 am Saturday, April 11.

The University of Tampa (UT) is joining the national effort to attract, increase and retain the number of women in technology fields by participating in The National Center for Women and Information Technology’s (NCWIT) Pacesetters program.

Launched in 2010, the Pacesetters program is designed to recruit untapped talent pools of technological women as well as retain women at risk of leaving their organizations -- commonly referred to as “net new.” The 2013-2015 initiative includes a two-year fast track program and a collaborative network of senior executives from 20 universities and 14 companies working to add almost 2,000 women to the U.S. technological field.

“Twenty-five percent of IT professionals are female,” says Natasha Veltri, assistant professor of information and technology management and lead on the NCWIT Pacesetters program at UT. The goal of the Information and Technology Management (ITM) Department at UT is to increase female enrollment in the management and information systems program (MIS) from 23 percent to 50 percent.

To heighten that effort, UT’s ITM professors are practicing “in-reach” -- connecting with students during early college years, learning about their career and technological interests, and introducing them to classes, opportunities, industry connections and mentors so that students can explore the field.

By 2020, an estimated 1.4 million technology jobs will be added to the workforce. With 56 percent of women in computing and technology leaving jobs at the mid-career level, women in technology represent a significant value-add to companies.

“We encourage students to learn computing and pursue careers in this field; this way we can address the IT shortage and create a new pool of qualified, educated workers,” says Veltri.

Veltri also reaches to her network of IT professionals who have been successful within the field to serve as role models to students. “There are many female professionals who are passionate about this issue and who want to serve. We can support students considering a career in IT and can share our experiences with them by using our business connections.”

Each month, the Office of Career Services lists several openings for IT positions. “We don’t have enough candidates to fill those roles,” says Veltri.

“The innovation in the IT field has been tremendous in the last four years, and for us to continue the innovation, we need the right supply of talent. For us to provide our region with the right talent, we have to grow this locally. That way we can attract new employers.”

ITM is additionally working to increase interest and career development for females in technology by partnering with Tampa Bay’s technology professionals and utilizing UT’s Office of Career Services to introduce students to internships and career opportunities. ITM also provides a hands-on technology and computing platform to middle and high school students through their Get Smart program.

“There is a pipeline of talent, and we can contribute by developing local talent to grow Tampa Bay's industries, businesses, and IT field in particular.”

Visit the website for details on all of the University of Tampa’s information and technology management degrees. For more information on the Pacesetters program, contact Natasha Veltri via email or at 813.257.3970.

Doctors are facing a big deadline in 2014, and a Spring Hill company is hiring more staff to help them make that deadline.

By 2014, all patient medical records must be electronic, and eDocs Conversion Solutions is helping docs throughout Tampa Bay to convert their paper records to electronic. eDocs needs additional staff to accomplish its goal.

The company, owned and operated by Victoria Kaczynski and Teresina Jessie, added two employees since the beginning of 2012 and plans to add eight more by the end of the year. They also have entered into a partnership with Hielix, a company that helps facilitate the conversion process by assisting doctors' offices in choosing the right IT vendor.

"We saw an approximate 16 percent growth in 2011 and anticipate that if not more next year," says Kaczynski. "As we grow, we’re going need to hire staff to prepare records, to scan charts, someone to handle Q & A and, of course, more medical transcriptionists."

Kaczynski explains the relationship between her company and Hielix, and how it benefits their doctor-clients.

"Hielix helps the doctor decide on a vendor that will work best for their practice. The next step involves what to do with all the existing patient records. This is where eDocs comes in. We help them incorporate their old charts to integrate seamlessly with the EMR system Hielix has helped them choose."

Kaczynski and Jessie attribute the growth of the business not only to the impending conversion deadline, but also to their focus and ability to stay ahead of industry trends.

"We started out as transcribers," explains Kaczynski. "In the last couple of years, we've been focusing on branching out."

Adds Jessie: "We’ve always tried to keep a step ahead. We saw the move to EMR compliance as an opportunity. So we hopped on board."

When Marcus Meyer opened Gator Janitorial Services in 2004 it was a one-man operation.

His company has expanded its services and staff, and changed its name to reflect its broader range. Gator Cleaning Solutions provides commercial cleaning services, including floor care, windows and construction cleanup in addition to general cleaning. And Meyer and his wife and partner, Erin, recently hired a quality assurance specialist and plan to add more sales staff.

"Up until now, it’s been myself and our first hire making cold calls, etc.," says Marcus. "Hopefully we’ll bring on our first sales rep soon. And if growth goes as we plan, we want to bring on another one. As the sales team brings in new business, we can then add another QA specialist as well as an account manager. So we're anticipating 20 to 25 new hires. full-time, part-time and contracted cleaners."

Marcus attributes the growth to word-of-mouth and a consistent commitment to personal service.

"Through the years of having the company, it’s always been the personal touch," he says. We get a large amount of referral business. I still have clients I had as an individual from the very beginning. We get a large amount of referral business. Even through the down economy, we’ve enjoyed a 35 percent growth rate."

Adds Erin: "We pride ourselves in our constant research of products and services. We use state-of-the-art equipment and eco-friendly products. With our healthcare and education clients, we strive for high satisfaction scores and low infection rates. For our business clients, its about their image. We help create and maintain that."

Marcus says he has noticed more demand for services recently, which may be indicative of an improved economy.

"I do feel that the economy is improving," he says. "I can tell because our clients are asking for more frequent cleanings again. For a while there, they'd gone down to two or three a week. Now they're asking for five times a week again. They’re reinvesting in their image, which is what we help them do."

Advantec Global Solutions recently changed its name to eDocs Conversion Solutions and plans to hire 25 additional employees in the next year.

The Spring Hill company is a digital medical transcription business that scans and converts medical records into electronic medical records (EMR). The company’s new name is a representation of the services it offers.

“We changed the name because we feel that eDocs Conversion Solutions better reflects us as a company going forward,” says Teresina Jessie, president and co-founder of eDocs Conversion Solutions. “We are converting records to the digital technology of today, and the new name reflects that. ”

Jessie co-founded the company with Victoria Kaczynski 11 years ago after the two worked together at a large orthopedic office in Virginia Beach. Both were planning on relocating to Spring Hill in Hernando County north of Tampa and knew there was a need for a transcription business in the region, so they decided once they both relocated they would start one of their own.

The company has grown to 27 employees to date. As more and more medical service providers turn to electronic medical records to stay in compliance with government regulations, eDocs' strategic planning calls for adding 25 more employees in 2012.

“We will be hiring medical transcriptionists, voice recognition editors, individuals to work in scanning and quality assurance, as well as sales and marketing professionals,” says Kaczynski. “We plan to hire these new employees within the next year.”

It has always been Goodwill's mission to help people get to work. That mission is alive and well today as Goodwill-Suncoast, the local branch of Goodwill Industries, is looking to put people to work in the Tampa Bay region.

"We currently have about 50 openings in the Tampa Bay area," says Chris Ward of Goodwill-Suncoast. "We are filling various positions, everything from retail sales manager, retail associate and donations processing staff to skills trainers and IT staff. We are looking to fill these positions as soon as possible."

In this economy, where jobs and growth are scarce, Goodwill has experienced considerable success. "We opened three new superstores since 2008, these stores opened in Wesley Chapel, Oldsmar and Spring Hill," Ward says. "We also opened a residential work-release center in Largo."

Ward says that most of the jobs with Goodwill-Suncoast are in Pinellas or Hillsborough counties, however, there are a few in other parts of the area. "We have a few jobs in Pasco and Hernando County, where Goodwill is the lead service provider at Career Central employment offices," Ward says. "The list of jobs on our website will give the location of each position."

For potential employees interested in applying, Ward explains what Goodwill is looking for. "We are looking for dedicated, hard-working people who take pride in the work they do," Ward says. "A customer service mindset is especially important for retail and donations staff. Because the nature of Goodwill's mission is helping people achieve their full potential through the power of work, staff can feel especially good about being part of the Goodwill team."